Surf star discovers oceans of opportunity between the flags

The world will be watching ACPE student and elite athlete Jake Lynch when he races in the Lifesaving World Championships 2016 in the Netherlands this month.

The 24 year old Newport local will represent the Australian team as the specialist beach competitor, competing in the beach sprint and beach flag events against some of the world’s best.

“It is an honour to be part of such a great team. We have a big challenge ahead of us as Australia were the leaders of this event until two years ago when New Zealand took the title, so I’m looking forward to hitting the beach,” said Jake.

The event is held every two years and involves between 2,500 and 5,000 competitors over 14 days.

Jake’s participation at the Lifesaving World Championships follows a busy 2015 for the multi-talented athlete, who picked up the bronze medal in the 100m sprint at the Australian Uni Games, also being voted ACPE’s People’s Champion by his peers.

When he’s not perfecting his sprint technique Jake can be found at ACPE’s Sydney Olympic Park campus, where he is currently in the third year of his Bachelor of Health and Movement (Sport) degree. The Northern Beaches athlete plans to use his qualification to become a specialist in strength and conditioning coaching for elite athletes, and fit this work around his sporting commitments.

“I’m currently studying three subjects as I’ve found this gives me the best balance – not too much and not too little. It allows me to still compete, train, work part-time and have an active social life,’ said Jake.

“It’s never been a problem for me to get time off to compete in Australia and overseas or take part in training camps. In fact the teachers are really proud of us and incredibly supportive.”

When it comes to perfecting the juggle, Jake said he always felt his education provider had his back.

“The teachers and staff at ACPE are amazing and very supportive towards students that participate in elite sports. There are so many talented athletes here even at Olympic level, and they have all been really well catered for,” said Jake.

Jake said ACPE’s Health and Movement (Sport) degree was the perfect choice because of the mix of theory and practical experience coupled with incredible opportunities for work experience.

“I got offered to do a placement with the Channel 9 reality show ‘NRL Rookie’ through my ACPE teacher Trevor Clark. One day all 24 rookie hopefuls came in to ACPE for us to do their fitness testing – it was an amazing experience,” said Jake.

“I’ve been really impressed by ACPE’s massive network. They are really well connected with sporting organisations who are willing to chat with students and offer then assistance or employment if they are the right fit.”

When asked about his dreams for the future, Jake’s responds without missing a beat.

“I’d love to continue to improve my athletic performance to progress to the Commonwealth Games and Olympic Athletic teams. That would be a dream come true,” Jake said.